AHSMORE: NHL: Devils feeling loss of Kovalchuk

Carolina Hurricanes goalie Dan Ellis (31) defends the goal against New Jersey Devils' Ilya Kovalchuk (17), of Russia, during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

NEWARK — When the Devils take on the Flyers Thursday night, it seems likely that star winger Ilya Kovalchuk will miss his 11th straight game after suffering a right shoulder injury in a collision with the end boards on March 23.

New Jersey’s record without its $100 million man? 0-10. This is not a coincidence, The now 30-year-old is a threat whenever he’s on the ice, but where the Devils clearly miss him is on the man advantage, where he’ll often take the full two-minute shift.

“The power play is where I think his absence would be missed the most,” Ottawa Senators star forward Daniel Alfredsson said. “But that’s what happens when players get injured. I think a lot of teams go through that this year in a shortened season and with a tighter schedule. Those things are going to happen.”

It just couldn’t have happened at a worse time. The Devils have slid from having the opportunity to defend their Eastern Conference title to virtually out of playoff contention, sitting at a seemingly insurmountable six points back of the Rangers and Winnipeg Jets with six games left to play.

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But all the blame can’t rest on Kovalchuk’s shoulders...well, shoulder. Although Martin Brodeur can hardly be faulted for a porous defense that continues to lack a true number one blueliner, New Jersey has allowed 29 goals over its 10-game skid. Things didn’t go much better when backup Johan Hedberg made 13 straight starts earlier this season when Brodeur was out with a back injury, a stretch in which the Devils won just three times.

Where other teams have given chances to other goaltenders in an attempt to keep themselves afloat — 14 of the 30 NHL organizations have started three or more netminders this season — the Devils have had just Brodeur or Hedberg out there at the opening faceoff, despite both dealing with injuries throughout the year and the organization having Keith Kinkaid and Jeff Frazee waiting in the wings at AHL Albany.

Kinkaid, considered a goalie of the future for New Jersey, made his NHL debut on March 5 after Hedberg was pulled and was loudly cheered by the home crowd upon entering the game. But he was immediately sent down afterwards and replaced on the roster by Frazee, who is considered more of a depth option. Frazee, a former Trenton Devil, made his NHL debut on the road and, like Kinkaid, entered the game in relief of Hedberg.

The argument for not starting Kinkaid (AHL: 2.69 GAA, .906 save pct.) or Frazee (2.67, .912) is that it’s believed neither is ready to start an NHL game. But given that Kinkaid is in his second year in the organization and Frazee’s in his fifth, where does the blame lie for that? With Brodeur (40) and Hedberg (39) not getting any younger, there needs to be a clear shift in philosophy to have more of a focus on developing their young goaltending talent.

That young talent includes 20-year-old Scott Wedgewood, who appears to be ready for a full-time jump to the AHL after making 48 appearances for the Trenton Titans this season.

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Things aren’t all bad in Newark. After much speculation, given Devils GM Lou Lamoriello’s considerable contributions to college hockey, the Prudential Center will host the inaugural Liberty Hockey Invitational on Oct. 25 and 26. The two-day, four-team tournament will feature Ivy League squads out of the ECAC; including newly-crowned national champion Yale, Princeton, Brown and Dartmouth.

Over the next three years, Princeton and Yale will serve as mainstays for the tournament, with Hockey East schools Maine, Massachusetts, UMass-Lowell, Merrimack and Vermont slated to fill in the empty spots over time.

The Lamoriello Trophy is awarded annually to the champion of the Hockey East Tournament in honor of the now-70-year-old, who served as the first commissioner in conference history.

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While the Titans’ hopes of playing for the Kelly Cup vanished around the midway point of the season, at least one of their division rivals is still playing. After defeating the New York Rangers-affiliated Greenville Road Warriors in five games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the Reading Royals are set to kick off their semifinal series against the Florida Everblades in Reading on Friday night.

Whoever comes out of that series will face the winner of the Gwinnett Gladiators-Cincinnati Cyclones matchup, in which Gwinnett will only have two home games in the seven-game series due to arena conflicts.